Get involved in pensions review, charities urged

Charities should actively contribute to the review on pensions, warned Carole Cook, partner at solicitors Nickelson Graham and Jones.

"If you don't, the recommendations may be imposed on charities as well as pension funds for the sake of uniformity," she said in a panel debate at the Guardian-sponsored Charity Investment conference.

The Myners report, which is currently out for consultation after being published 18 months ago, said that unreasonable demands are being made on trustees, who are rarely paid and are unsupported by staff.

It added that undue pressure was put on investment consultants to whom decisions are delegated without adequate assessment or measurement.

The report also points to a lack of clarity of objectives, a vagueness of timescales for assessing investment performance and a reluctance to participate in shareholder activism.

All of these charges could equally apply to charities, Ms Cook suggested.

Ms Cook said charity finance directors may be challenged on various fronts. For example, they may have to consider whether they have the right mix of skills among trustees and whether they should pay trustees, or even intervene in companies that in which they invest.

John Hildebrand, head of charities at Investec Asset Management said shareholder activism could become a legal requirement for charities.

The Myners report is against compulsory voting in all cases but said that the principle should be incorporated in law.

Mr Hilderbrand warned that charities would have to establish a policy on voting and weigh up the costs of such activities against the benefit.

Another panellist, Keith Hickey, director of finance at Help the Aged, commented: "It may be appropriate for Greenpeace but not for smaller charities."

He said that the Myners report recommends transparency and this would be an important consideration for charities in their accountability to beneficiaries and donors.

Panellist Pesh Framjee, head of the charities unit at Deloitte and Touche added that the chief charity commissioner, John Stoker had recently sent a letter to the top 200 charities encouraging them to be more open about their performance and activities in their annual accounts.

To stimulate debate on the Myners report, the association for chief executives of voluntary organisations (Acevo) has set up a committee under the chairmanship of Lord Young. It will publish the results in January.

Mr Framjee concluded: "There are a lot of things up for grabs in the Myners report and it is up to us to do something otherwise it will be forced on us".